数字基础设施对要素市场配置的影响研究OACHSSCD

For a long time,China's factor markets have been characterized by pronounced allocation distor-tions and regional segmentation.These distortions hinder the efficient reallocation of production factors from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors,resulting in substantial efficiency losses due to resource misallocation.This has become a fundamental constraint on the development of a unified national market and high-quality econom-ic growth.Against this backdrop,the rapid expansion and diffusion of digital infrastructure provide new technologi-cal pathways for alleviating factor market distortions and optimizing resource allocation. This study takes the"Broadband China"pilot city policy as a quasi-natural experiment.Using panel data from 275 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2012 to 2023,and applying a double machine learning ap-proach,this study systematically examines the impact of digital infrastructure development on factor allocation effi-ciency and its underlying mechanisms.Factor allocation efficiency and distortion are measured across three dimen-sions-capital,labor,and the overall market-while the transmission channels and heterogeneous effects are further explored. The results show that digital infrastructure development significantly improves factor allocation efficiency and effectively alleviates distortions in capital,labor,and the overall market.Mechanism analysis indicates that digital infrastructure promotes factor allocation efficiency through three main channels.First,it enhances urban innovation capacity,including overall innovation output and green technology innovation.Second,it optimizes the labor mar-ket structure by expanding employment scale and improving job quality.Third,it facilitates the development of dig-ital finance,thereby broadening the scope of financial services and improving capital allocation efficiency.The re-gression coefficients for all three channels are significantly positive,confirming the effectiveness of the transmission mechanisms. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the effects of digital infrastructure on factor allocation are more pro-nounced in non-resource-based cities,non-traditional industrial bases,and economically developed regions,indica-ting that the effects are significantly moderated by urban resource endowments,institutional environments,and technological absorption capacity. This study integrates digital infrastructure and factor market allocation into a unified analytical framework.Based on a nationwide city-level sample and a quasi-natural experiment design,it provides robust micro-level evi-dence for understanding how digital technologies alleviate factor distortions and promote coordinated regional devel-opment.In addition,this study identifies three key transmission channels,namely,innovation capacity,labor mar-ket structure,and digital finance,and clarifies the boundary conditions under which these effects operate,offering important policy implications for advancing market-oriented factor reforms and designing a differentiated policy framework.